Unionville, ON
Hiking We ventured 30 minutes north of Unionville to York Regional Forest, which spans 2,400 hectares with 150km of trails. Most importantly, it’s open year-round, and is free! Specifically, we went to the Bendor and Graves Tract, as it has a large dog park (right next to the car park off McCowan Road). We meandered around the snowy trails, walking 5km, and then let Rita have some playtime. Luckily there were lots of other dogs to play with, so I got to chat with the “dog-moms” while our pups raced around. Rita gave everyone a laugh as she rounded up all the other dogs for a game of chase…..and outran them all!!
Rita rounding up her gang
Main Street Unionville is a typical quaint Christmassy town: lots of lights, ribbons, music and good old Christmas cheer in the air! We wandered around, admiring the window displays and taking it all in. A must-visit is Old Firehall Confectionery, where I picked up some hot chocolate bombs (peppermint, snowman white choc and The Grinch matcha images from their website shown below).
Eating We had planned to go to Unionville Arms Pub & Grill, which had publicised its dog-friendly heated, covered patio. However, when we got there the patio was closed up for the winter. Regardless, like the dedicated blogger I am, I got some takeout and ate it in my own dog-friendly eatery - my car. I had a veggie wrap and some sweet potato fries, and give it a solid 7/10. It was nice, but a bit greasy….it was pub food, after all! It was nice enough that I would go back to avail of the patio if I was in town again.
I also visited The Alley, a bubble tea shop. It also has a patio with metal rings on the benches, presumably to tie your dog…I did anyway while I went inside to order. It was too cold to actually sit outside but I got a bubble tea milk latte to keep me warm on the walk. Another reason I had visited The Alley was because I saw online they had a bit of a shop, including some dog accessories with proceeds going to local humane societies. Disappointingly, the store part was empty today, due to the pandemic or just not stocked up, I don’t know. You can check out what they have online or at another shop closer to you (I discovered there is one in Waterloo, near me!). I’ll also point out The Alley’s tagline written on my cup: “Iconic in beverage aesthetic”. Perfect for millennial bloggers everywhere (speaking as one).
